Jane’s Book of Fighting (1985), by Raymond Pettibon.Art: The art of Raymond Pettibon is intimately tied to the punk culture of California, which perhaps isn’t surprising considering that his brother, Greg Ginn, founded Black Flag. This weekend at Florida Atlantic University, the college hosts Raymond Pettibon: The Punk Years 1978-86, featuring drawings and designs done for Black Flag and other bands including Sonic Youth and the Dead Kennedys. There’s something about the pre-computer cartoon style of Pettibon’s work that conjures up the old days of cutting-edge rock, when art like this could be found on every college kiosk.
Black Flag: Slip It In (1984), by Raymond Pettibon.The exhibit, which opens today, contains more than 200 pieces of art and will last through Jan. 22 in the Schmidt Gallery on FAU’s Boca Raton campus. Admission is free, and the gallery is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call 297-2595 or visit www.fau.edu/galleries.
Le Violon D’Ingres (1924), by Man Ray.When Man Ray moved from Los Angeles back to France in 1951, where he had worked for years and spent the last 25 years of his life, he was reportedly disappointed that his fellow Americans were interested only in his photography, not his painting. His work on canvas remains little-known today, but the Philadelphia-born artist’s photos have become iconic, and today, the Palm Beach Photographic Centre opens an exhibit of some of his best-known images in a show that will run through the end of this year.
The Man Ray Legacy opens with a reception from 5:30 to 7 p.m. today at the Photographic Centre, which is at 415 Clematis St. Regular hours in the city center complex are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 253-28000 or visit www.workshop.org.
Sean Penn and Naomi Watts in Fair Game. Film: It has been hard to miss former President George W. Bush around the dial hawking his new memoirs. But even if he weren’t so busy, it seems unlikely he would be in line waiting to see Fair Game. Still, it is worth everyone else seeing for its clear-eyed look at recent history, specifically the case of ex-ambassador Joe Wilson, who very publicly refuted the notion that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction – the rationale for our going to war – and for his candor, the White House endangered his wife, CIA agent Valerie Plame, by outing her. Sean Penn and Naomi Watts play the couple convincingly, under the direction of Doug Limon, who gives this story the Bourne Identity jittery camera look. In area theaters this weekend. – H. Erstein
Albert Blaise Cattafi and Holly Shunkey in Vices: A Love Story.Theater: It is a relief to report that my enthusiasm for the quirky dance musical Vices: A Love Story, which premiered at the Caldwell Theatre in Boca Raton in July of 2009, was not a hallucination. Back for an encore run, with several new cast members and some tightening by director Clive Cholerton and choreographer AC Cuilla, it again shows itself to be an innovative, sensuous show about a couple who meet, go to bed, then introduce themselves by mentioning their many bad habits. Carbonell winner Holly Shunkey and newcomer Albert Blaise Cattafi are stunning, contorting themselves in ways you would not think their bodies could bend. Continuing through Dec. 12. Call (561) 241-7432. – H. Erstein
Lise Lindstrom as Turandot.(Photo by Gaston de Cardenas)
Music: The area’s opera season opens tonight with the first production from Florida Grand Opera, Puccini’s Turandot.
Puccini died in 1924 with the last pages of this opera, a story of cruelty and love set in a mythical ancient China, incomplete; they had to be finished by composer Franco Alfano for the premiere in 1926. It is nonetheless a great opera, and best-known to the world for the tenor aria that begins the third act: Nessun dorma (None shall sleep), indelibly associated these days with the late Luciano Pavarotti.
The California-born soprano Lise Lindstrom stars as Princess Turandot, and tenor Frank Porretta is Calaf, the exiled Tartar prince who tries to win the heart of the princess. Turandot tests each suitor with three riddles, and unsuccessful aspirants get their heads chopped off, but Calaf wants to try anyway.
Also in the cast is the Cuban-American soprano Elizabeth Caballero as Liu, the slave girl who loves Calaf from afar. The staging is by Bliss Hebert, who’s refurbishing his original 1981 production for its final appearance here (it’s been sold to the Dallas Opera), and the conductor is Ramón Tebar, who this season formally takes over the reins of the Palm Beach Symphony.
FGO presents Turandot at the Ziff Ballet Opera House in Miami beginning at 7 p.m. today; subsequent performances are set for 8 p.m. Nov. 16, 19, 24, and 27, and for 2 p.m. Nov. 21. The show moves to the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale for two performances at 8 p.m. Dec. 2 and 4. Tickets range from $19 to $175. Call 800-741-1010 or visit www.fgo.org.